New members appointed to Victorian Trust For Nature Board

To ensure the continued protection of precious native habitat for future generations to enjoy, the Victorian Government has appointed three new members to the Trust for Nature board.

These new appointments mean eight out of the ten Trust for Nature Board Members are women, including the Chair, delivering on the Government’s goal of achieving 50% female board chairs and 50% female representation on Boards.

Two of the new board members have culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and one member is Aboriginal, ensuring that connection to Country and the expertise of Traditional Owners is taken into account in decision making.

The new board includes Andrew Brookes (pictured above) who has a background working with philanthropic foundations as well as being an owner of covenanted property, Sonya Rand (pictured top right) who works in leadership roles in community and sustainability for retail organisations and Lisa Darmanin (pictured top left) who has a background in superannuation management.

Two members have been reappointed, Jill Smith who has a background in investment and market research and Nina Braid who has experience in sustainable agriculture and indigenous land management.

Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio notes “the variety of experience and backgrounds the Board members have will provide invaluable leadership for Trust for Nature in their important work protecting Victoria’s biodiversity.

“Private landholders play an important role in protecting and enhancing habitat for our state’s native flora and fauna and the right Board will ensure this conservation work continues to thrive.”

Trust for Nature plays a key role in conserving Victoria’s environment by establishing permanent conservation covenants with landowners to protect habitat on private land throughout Victoria, which also contributes to the state’s targets under the Biodiversity 2037 plan.

To date Trust for Nature has created more than 1,500 covenants protecting more than 72,000 hectares across Victoria.

For more information on the Trust for Nature Board visit trustfornature.org.au